Muslim anger at abuse of Koran

Afghans carry an effigy of George W. Bush during a protest in Jalalabad. Picture / Reuters

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan has voiced deep concern to Washington over a report that US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay desecrated the Koran, and 2000 Afghan students marched in protest at the news.
Newsweek quoted sources as saying that investigators probing abuses at the military prison had found that interrogators "had placed Korans on toilets, and in at least one case flushed a holy book down the toilet".

The Foreign Ministry said that Pakistan conveyed its deep concern to Washington over the reported desecration of the Muslim holy book, which sparked a student protest in Afghanistan and outraged Pakistani lawmakers.

"US officials have stated that the alleged perpetrators of the reported desecration would be held accountable after the matter had been appropriately investigated and responsibility is established," it said.

About 2000 students in Afghanistan protested over the report, chanting "Death to America" and holding an effigy of US President George W. Bush.

"American should apologise for this," said one student at the protest in Jalalabad city, about 130km east of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

"Whoever has done this should be brought to justice and the Afghan Government should condemn it."

The students blocked the main road to Kabul but there were no clashes with police who kept watch from a distance, a witness said.

A high-level US military investigation into accusations of detainee abuse at Guantanamo Bay has still to be completed.

The US is holding more than 500 prisoners from its war on terrorism at the naval base on Cuba. Many of them were detained in Afghanistan after US-led troops drove the Taleban from power in late 2001.

There has been growing public outrage in Pakistan over the report. The National Assembly, parliament's lower house, on Monday passed a resolution denouncing the reported desecration and Imran Khan, a Pakistani cricketer turned politician, last week demanded an apology from the United States.

Pakistan called in the deputy chief of mission at the US embassy in Islamabad to voice its concerns about the report, said US officials in Washington who asked not to be named. "The Pentagon is aware of the allegation," said a US State Department official. "They have started an investigation into it."

Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita described the destruction of any holy book as "reprehensible and not in keeping with US policies and practices".

The US commands a foreign force in Afghanistan of about 18,300, most of them American, fighting the Taleban and hunting al Qaeda leaders, including Osama bin Laden, architect of the September 11, 2001, attacks.

- REUTERS